LASHKARGAH : The revenue of the municipality in Lashkargah, the capital of southern Helmand province, has increased by 47 percent while the department’s expenses decreased by 50 percent, the city’s mayor said here the other day.
Matiullah Baheer told a news conference here that his department had collected more than five million afghanis in taxes during the past one month, showing a 47 percent increase over the returns that stood at three million afs two months ago.
He said the five million afs taxes had only been collected at the city’s entrances because problems existed in other spheres and plans had been chalked out to resolve them. He did not mention the nature of the problems.
“Before I came here, the municipality consumed at least 44,000 liters of fuel a month, but now the mount has been decreased to 19,000 liters,” he said.
To a question in this regard, the mayor said the nation should determine who lined their pockets with that money.
Baheer vowed to use all his ability making the municipality a professional and effective department to better serve the people.
The mayor also acknowledged thousands acres of land had been illegally occupied in Helmand, a process, he said, was still ongoing.
He said he was only able to recover 10 acres of the usurped land during the past one month, but the campaign to reclaim all usurped land would continue.